Article: What Are the Wild Trying To Unlock In Tarasenko's Game?

[Bekki Antonelli]

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[Justin Hein]

Love the selection of that 2nd clip. Very similar to the shape Minnesota used in the OZ last year, could be an indication of good things to come! 

[Imyourhuckleberry]

Quote

The Wild took a risk with Tarasenko. While he has produced at a level worth the $4.75M cap hit, he has not done so in several seasons.

Seems like it's literally been 1 season. Tarasenko scored at a pace of at least 58 points per 81 games each of the 3 seasons prior to last.

If people think Rossi is worth $5-$7M after 1 season of achieving 60 points in 82 games, it's not hard to imagine a season where Tarasenko earns his money.

He isn't the player he once was, averaging 75 points per 82 games from ages 23-30, but he isn't far removed from some really solid production.

I think playing with Kaprizov and Yurov(a couple of KHL champions) might have him motivated for a bounce back year, but you never know how it will go.

[Dean]

I like young vlads game but his past few seasons have been rough. He was disgruntled in St. Louis and Detroit. Getting young vlad would be amazing but imo it’ll be more like a Jo Jo . When he feels like playing he will.  I don’t think it’s a bad gamble to take on him but it’s not x-mas . 
   I see vlad as a band aid for Billy because he couldn’t do anything. So he went and got a disgruntled caste off that isn’t playing well. Not a top free agent or a big named player in a trade but a broken winger . Then he try’s to sell it as smart . Yeah because all the winning GMs sit on there hands year after year waiting for cast offs to fill there roster.  This offseason proves Billy and Craig have no plan and never have. All his paid advisors and they couldn’t see free agency wasn’t going to be this year with salary cap going up. Maybe putting guys on ir last year to make trades so you could start building for this season. The fricking season you promised you were going to go for it with a big x-mas , you come back with a broken winger . What a joke. Now there back to the wait excuse because Billy who hasn’t done anything needs more time to do nothing . Billy hasn’t built anything for top free agents to come to . Billy hasn’t restocked the prospect pool to where he can go buy what he needs.  Billy told the whole leauge Rossi was too small to be wilds 2c ( I do agree but wouldn’t tell leauge) and the rest of the nhl agrees and don’t want him due to size.  So how are the wild going to be a contender with a undersized disgruntled 2c that the rest of the leauge doesn’t want . It doesn’t fix the wilds center problem like Billy said he was going to do.  Kappy is going to be 28 and Billy still doesn’t have a center for him.  The let’s just wait excuse is over . Kappy is now putting his prime years  behind him and Billy’s done jack squat to build a contender . The wild need a new gm that makes moves to better this team since the owner won’t rebuild and free agents won’t come here.

[1Brotherbill]

so, 45 to 55 points on the third line for 4.5 million dollars.  This is a solid hope and it is very attainable.  If he plays well he moves up if he plays at a 45 point level he stays on the third line.  If he plays at a 35 point level he is still better than most of the fourth line players Minnesota has run out over the years.